SecretsShouldStaySecrets
by sKaEtrgrL
Summary: Percy didn’t plan on dying. He didn’t plan on being reincarnated either, let alone discovering an entirely new world beneath his very feet. With a new threat on the rise, Percy must unite new and old friends to defeat this foe.


**A/N: Alright, I know I've got like a million unfinished stories right now, but I've been rewatching Slugterra for a few days now and I've found myself with an idea that makes so much sense to me! I haven't found a story like mine, so I'm going to give it a go! For any of my readers that are asking about my other stories, I'm literally working on at least three different stories from this one, so I promise something good will eventually come! Anyways, just read and see what you think!**

Chapter One: Secrets Should Stay Secrets

Hi. My name is Percy Jackson. Well, I'm also Eli Shane, depending on which world you come from. This is going to start out extremely confusing, but I promise that it will make sense the more that I talk to you.

See, my name _was_ Percy Jackson. I died after we won the Second Giant War. Gaea decided that if she was going down, then she'd take me with her. And so I died, slowly suffocating as I inhaled the dirt surrounding me, my friends and families' screams and Gaea's laugh being the last thing I heard.

I'll admit, it's pretty rough, but what's done is done. I died, and was given a second chance. My demigod friends were still needed on the surface world, but didn't want to be immortal. After all, everyone has at least _one_ person that they love, dead or alive, that they want to see again. The gods gave them partial immortality, making them live an extra fifty years or so. If they wished to live for longer, were somehow helping, and were still loyal to the gods, then they would be given _another _fifty years to live. Like I said before, it's complicated, and that isn't even where I come in yet!

When I died, I didn't meet Charon waiting for me. I didn't forget my life. Instead, I was surrounded by white. An endless white abyss was _everywhere_. Made me a little sick of white since I sat there for what felt like eternity.

Eventually, a pitch black light warped the bright domain, and one of the prettiest women I've ever seen stood before me. Her skin was pitch black, stars and planets moving across her skin. Her hair was whiter than snow, so white that it glowed. It was long, reaching her thighs easily. Her eyes had black sclera, but her left iris was a orange golden hue, almost as though the sun was burning in it. Her right eye had a silver glow, similar to Artemis, her somehow more... silver. Her dress was simple, a soft cream color starting at the top and turning into an ombré of black at its base. It was sleeveless, and had pockets in which the beautiful woman had lazily placed her hands in.

I must've been gaping at her, because she gave a small chuckle. When she spoke, I think I gaped at her even more. **"Ah, Perseus. So wonderful to finally talk face to face with you."** She smiled at me, showing off her brilliant white teeth. **"I'm sure you've heard of me. My name is Chaos."**

I just blinked, still openly gaping. "Uh... nice to meet you Lady Chao- wait... like _Lady Chaos?!_ Like _The_ Lady Chaos?! Oh my gods! Uh..." I reached towards my pocket instinctively, grasping Riptide tightly.

Chaos must've noticed, as she merely laughed at me. **"Fear not, Perseus. I'm not here to harm you. I'd simply like to talk."** I relaxed a little bit as she sat down, gesturing for me to do the same. Not really wanting to be blasted into oblivion, I obliged. **"Oh, don't worry, Perseus. I have no intention of doing that. And yes, of course I know what you're thinking. I'm practically a God to the gods themselves. I made _everything_, after all."** I just blinked at the beautiful woman in front of me.

Clearing me head of stray thoughts, I put on my serious face. "Lady Chaos, please explain why I'm here. I thought that I'd died? It's hard to forget that suffocating feeling..." I shuddered while Lady Chaos nodded thoughtfully.

**"Hmm, yes. I'm sorry to say this, Percy, but you are still needed. Earth still needs a hero, and I believe that you are the only one worthy enough to do it."** I sighed, placing my head in one of my hands. Lady Chaos continued. **"If you agree to this, then I'll tell you everything. If not, I'll send you back to theUnderworld, where you will be judged and placed in the Isle of the Blessed. Choose wisely, Perseus Jackson."**

I twiddled with my fingers as I let my train of thought go on. _"If I decline, then I could live in the Isle of the Blessed, with people who have passed on and wait patiently for Annabeth and the others. Then again, I never was one for patience. And I definitely never liked the idea of turning down someone in need."_ I looked at Lady Chaos, a determined look on my face as my eyes hardened. I nodded. "I accept. I will help once again."

Lady Chaos smiled, before her face turned serious again. **"Very well, then. Listen closely. You will be reincarnated as a boy named Eli Shane. There's another world that you do not know about, and for a good reason. The Shanes are a family of protectors, watching over a land known as Slugterra. It's lands are vast, and many challenges wait for you down there. Now, just because you are being reincarnated doesn't mean you will lose your memories. In fact, you will keep both your memories _and_ your godly powers that you were born with. You will even gain more abilities, but that's quite some time away. You will learn more details in your upcoming life, but I must warn you: the surface world that you know must _never_ come into contact with Slugterra. You will be able to go to Camp Half-Blood for maybe a month in the summer, and a week or two during winter, but you mustn't tell _anyone_ of your past life. Your friends are currently partially immortal. Hades has told everyone that your soul was stolen, and that you've been reincarnated. Your friends can only wait for your arrival. Keep in mind that there _will_ come a time when your closest friends from _both _lives will unite to defeat one enemy. That time has yet to come, though. I might contact you every here and there, but don't expect it. The Fates have a new play toy, and his name... is Eli Shane..."**

With that note, Lady Chaos touched my forehead, and the world turned black.

**Time skip... ledaledaleee...**

Ten years. Ten years since Lady Chaos had talked to me, since I'd been reincarnated. I'll admit that at first, listening to my dad Will Shane talk to me about a different world sounded a little crazy. The fact that half of my blood was still Poseidon's and the other half was my new dad's blood confused me. Honestly, how could it be that I had _two _dads, but both of my mortal mother's blood was no longer running through my veins? I guess Lady Chaos had her reasons.

I definitely missed my _real_ mom. The woman that I called my mother was _nothing_ like Sally Jackson. This woman was kind when my dad was around, but was cruel and abusive when he left. She'd learned to beat me in my sleep or when I wasn't looking. I _am_ a demigod, after all. There's only so much I could do though in a ten year old's body. I did _not_ like this woman. If Smelly Gabe was reincarnated as a snotty, abusive woman, then this was him.

I had been lying awake, thinking of all of this while staring at Riptide in my hands. It was night, Artemis' full moon shining through my open window next to me.

A small orange light overwhelmed the natural silver light, making me grip Riptide tightly as I sat up in bed. I relaxed when I noticed who it was. "Burpy! What are you doing here? Is Dad back?" Burpy gave me a sad look, and I automatically steeled my face into a blank canvas. Burpy motioned towards the rug on my floor, and I walked over to it. I removed the box hidden under the floor, reading the note.

My dad... my dad's dead.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. The father that I'd held so dear, that I looked up to, was dead. It was strange how in my previous life, I was raised by a good mother and in this life I was raised by a good father. Either way someone I cared for always left me. Poseidon was, and still is, an amazing Godly parent. I'm glad I'm his son. But the way that Will Shane raised me, the way he taught me, held me, _loved_ me... I _finally_ understood what a father's love _was_. And it hurt, knowing that he was dead.

A few tears fell onto the letter, and I wiped at my face before giving a solid nod. I folded the letter up, packed my bags, and nodded to Burpy, the Infernos slug sitting firmly on my shoulder. "Burpy, we're leaving. Mom isn't a _real_ mom, and I know that if I stay then she'll become even more abusive than she already is. There's a reason Dad never told her about the world beneath our feet. We're gonna go stay with Uncle Jimmo for a few years, and then we'll head to our own little sanctuary. The place where Dad'll be waiting for us."

**ANOTHER time skip... sorry...**

I checked behind me to make sure no one was following me as I snuck into the sewage system. Burpy lit the way as I walked, my navy blue hair falling into my face. I blew it aside only for it to land right into the same place. _I really need a haircut..._

Burpy gave a small trill of noise that I identified as a laugh. I rolled my eyes as we neared the Drop Zone.

I'd been claimed exactly two years ago, on my thirteenth birthday. I don't really know _why_ or _how_ Poseidon knew I was his son. Maybe Lady Chaos told him? I wasn't sure. I honestly didn't know. I hadn't prayed to any of the gods in this life. Strangely enough, I'd only encountered a few monsters throughout the years. I didn't really care, though. I hadn't gone to Camp yet. After all, I was in Canada. Getting to New York wouldn't be difficult, but with my Uncle always looming over my shoulder until the day I left for Slugterra, it was hard to get away without him finding me. It's alright, I suppose, but I _really_ miss everyone. Especially Annabeth and my mom. I wish I could tell them everything, but the fact that I'd even be able to see them would be enough for me.

A voice I hadn't heard in fifteen years rang inside my skull. **"Ah, so it's finally time."** Lady Chaos! She was finally talking to me! **"Haha, yes I am. Percy, in another few months, you'll be able to go to the surface once more. When that time comes, you'll go to Camp Half-Blood. I will even allow you to go and see your mother. She is the _only_ person, as well as Chiron, that I will allow you to tell about _everything_. When you go to Camp, you may announce that you are Eli Shane, but when you talk to Chiron, tell him that I've allowed you to tell the partial immortals you were reincarnated. You can say you're Percy Jackson, but you _cannot_ explain anything more than that. Understood?"** I nodded, receiving a strange look from Burpy. **"Good. Then I will let you be on your way. Goodbye, Eli Shane."** I approached the metal chair, smiling as I gently rubbed my hand across the handle. It was _finally_ time for me to do something.

Burpy sat on my shoulder as I pushed the button, watching as straps flung themselves onto my body, a large metal bar going in front of me like a roller coaster. I smiled as I pushed the other button, ready for my new life to begin yet again.

Nothing happened.

I frowned a little and-

"AHHHH!!!" I smiled as I took the biggest free fall I think I'd ever taken. It was like a giant water slide, the way it twist and turned. I screamed out with joy as I emerged from the tunnel, a crap eating grin spread across my face as a stared at the land beneath me.

Slugterra... it wouldn't have surprised me if Pan escaped here for a while before he passed away. Everything was so green, so... fresh. I felt peaceful just looking at it. I don't think I'd ever breathed in such clean air before. Once we landed, I unstrapped myself, rereading the letter that I took out of my pocket. Within a few minutes I reached the Shane Hideout. It wasn't really a hideout, if I'm being honest. It was like a bubbly little home.

It was _my_ home. I smiled at Burpy as we walked in, only to cringe at how dirty everything was. It _had_ been empty for five years, so I should've expected this. I sighed in exasperation, but allowed my eyes to scan the letter again. I walked to the back, staring in disgust at the ugly mechanical donkey in the middle of the room. "Gee, thanks, Dad." I allowed my eyes to glance across the room, only to stop and stare at the large tarp. I rose an eyebrow, and quickly flicked the tarp off.

"Dam..." It was beautiful. Blue, orange and black accented the large white wolf. "LKE... I'll call you Lucky..." I smiled as I ran my hand along the mecha. She truly was beautiful. Even Lupa would be impressed with this metal contraption. I allowed myself to go towards the nearest cabinet, where I removed a Slug Slinging gun and Slugterran clothes. It didn't take me long to change. I smiled at the clothes I wore before gently tossing my Earth clothes into the same cabinet. I'd clean everything up later, anyways.

A small noise coming from the opposite side of the room made me draw my gun, Burpy already in the barrel. I'd learned how to shoot a mortal gun from my Uncle Jimmo, so I'd learned not to reach for Riptide as my first weapon in this life. "Come out! Who's there?"

A squeal was heard and a purple... _thing_ came out of the cupboard in front of me. "Ah! Pronto's sorry! He promises he wasn't stealing anything! Pronto.. ah... who are you?"

I gave a small glare at the mole man in front of me. "My name's Eli Shane. This is my _home_. What are you doing here?" Burpy growled at Pronto, encouraging the creature to talk.

"Ah! Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Pronto was just hungry! Pronto wanted to see if there was anything valuable here! He thought that this home was abandoned. You need to clean this place up... Ah, wait, did you say you were a Shane?!"

I nodded, and he gasped. He bowed before me, making me glare at him. I hated when people did that kind of crap. "Get up. Don't bow to me. I don't like it when people bow. It's annoying." I was tempted to kick him, but I refrained from doing so. The mole rat didn't seem to have a purpose, but I'd let him escape. _He's not a monster, Eli. Let it slide. Get used to living with other beings that aren't human. _

Pronto only looked at me with sparkling eyes. "So Pronto _won't _be injured?"

"No."

The ugly creature hugged me, his smell making me want to plug my nose. "Ah! Thank you, Mr. Shane! Pronto is an _expert_ tracker! Pronto's nose can get you anywhere! Pronto thinks you should enter the Slug Slinging Tournament! Show Slugterra a Shane is back! Yes, yes!" He nodded multiple times, his whisky mustache making little movement.

"Uh... sure. So, your name is Pronto, right?"

"Yes! Pronto is an amazing molenoid! Pronto will take you to the tournament!" Pronto hopped onto his donkey, opening the garage door and trotting ahead as he blabbed on and on about how amazing he is. I rolled my eyes, placing my blaster back onto my hip as I hopped onto my own mecha.

"So, how _exactly_ does this work?"

I was gone within a few seconds, passing up Pronto.

**Small skip to the tournament...**

"Pronto has found you a sparring partner!" I turned towards the Molenoid, a small gasp escaping my lips.

"You... you're a cave troll!"

Th tall, blue being gave a small glare at me. "Yeah, I know. Are you gonna day you don't wanna spar with me either?"

I motioned my hands at him. "Why would I ever say that! I've always wanted to meet a cave troll! Look at you! You're _blue!_ Why _wouldn't _I want to meet you?!" I smiled widely, only to be wrapped in a bone crushing hug.

"You're so nice! I don't think I've met a Slugterran like you! So, uh, what's your name again?"

"Oh, it's Eli. Eli Shane." I smiled, holding my hand out to the cave troll to shake.

"Oh wow! A Shane! My name is Kord Zane. Nice to meet ya!" He clasped my hand in his, smiling at me.

"So, you're a supposed Shane, Hmm? What proof do you have? And what's with that weird accent? It's like you're unfamiliar with speaking Slugterran. Where are you from?" I turned towards the ginger/brunette girl walking towards us with a camera.

"I'm a Shane. And I'm... not from around here. My dad raised me speaking a different language, so I haven't really used Slugterran that often. And who're you supposed to be?"

"The name's Trixie. If you can speak a different language, then like I said before. Prove it."

I smiled. _"You Slugterrans are ignorant. I'd be surprised if any of you understood me speaking in English. I could even try speaking Greek, but if I did that then I'd only confuse you more. _Are you satisfied?"

Trixie just glared at me. "No. That could just be some made up language you just spoke. The only thing I understood was Slugterran. What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing." I smiled at her before turning back to Kord. "So, we gonna spar?"

**"And the tournament begins! The supposed Eli Shane against Shock Wire! Ten minutes!"**

"I guess that's me." I rubbed me head sheepishly as I held my gun up to Kord. "Uh, so how exactly do I use this?"

"WHAT?!" All three of the people I knew turned towards me, shocked looks across all of their faces.

"You're a _Shane_, but you've never even fired a slug?!" Trixie looked at me like I was insane.

"Actually, I _have_ launched a slug! It was only a few hours ago, at my house, thank you very much! And my dad made me promise him that I wouldn't fire a slug till I turned fifteen."

"Let me guess, Happy Birthday?" She rolled her eyes at me, and I was instantly reminded of Annabeth.

"Uh, no. That was yesterday."

"Okay, Wise guy, let's teach you the basics before you have to go fight." I nodded at Kord, and he used a good 8 of the 10 minutes showing me what to do. Believe it or not, I'm really good at taking instructions. I just usually ignore them.

As we approached the arena, Trixie blabbed on and on about the kind of slugs Shock Wire uses. Something about electricity and overusing them. I smiled, a plan already developed.

The tournament didn't last long. I won, and got Joules, a Tazerling slug. He was more than happy to leave his previous slinger.

It continued on like this, me winning and winning (like usual). Eventually it was down to me and John Bull. I'd encountered a man named Dr. Blakk. He reminded me of Thorne, like an evil manticore waiting to strike me with poisonous needles. He offered me some weird crap, and even showed me these evil slugs (I called them Ghouls). I was beyond angry. In fact, I might've _accidentally _made some water above him and made it fall onto his head. Nobody knew where it came from though, so I figured it's fine. Trixie seemed skeptical but she kept quiet. I'd have to check her camera later when I got the chance to make sure she didn't see anything she wasn't supposed to. After all, the Mist didn't work down here. Most stuff here _was_ magical, after all.

John Bull and I faced off.

And I lost. Don't look at me like that! You should've seen Kord when he was beat! Bull was just a bunch of... well, _bull _crap. He thankfully didn't want any of my slugs, which was a relief, but these Ghouls were starting to bother me. Slugterra needed some serious help, and I intended to be that help.

**Time skip... A distant Shore episode...**

I had no intention of ever revealing anything to my friends from Slugterra. Never. So when a crazy old guy starts up an expedition to go to the surface, I joined. There was no way I'd let them figure out the Shane's biggest secret. I'd protect both worlds. That's why I was reincarnated anyways, right?

My friends kept arguing with me about it. Pronto wanted to go, but I told him no. Trixie and Kord seemed to think of the surface as some sort of fantasy, and that's how I intended to keep things.

When the crazy old dude showed me a Shane book written in the Shane's Code, I about had a mini heart attack. That was my uncle's journal! I kept quiet though. I'd steal the book and replace it with a different Slugterran book, that way he'd look insane. I gave a small smile. I could do this.

That night, I snuck out to the garage, hopped on my mecha, opened the garage door and-

"What are you doing?" I whipped around, Trixie standing in the doorframe with her hands on her hips. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I swear, sometimes it felt like she was pretending to be my mother!

"I'm going out for a while. It's Shane business."

"Yeah, well that's what the Shane Gang is for, Eli. We do things _together_. What are you actually doing? Please tell me you aren't going on that expedition."

"Pfft. You think you know everything. Well let me tell you something. You _don't. _So stop pretending that you do." I turned towards her, my eyes glowing a sea green, my godly aura leaking out. She gasped but I ignored her. "Like I said, it's Shane business. I have no intention of letting any of you come with me. Not this time." With that, I rode off, leaving behind a confused and angry girl.

**Trixie's POV (bet you didn't expect that!)**

I woke up Kord and Pronto. Whatever was going on with Eli, he needed our help. He'd have these moments where he seemed like an entirely different person, and it honestly confused me. Sometimes, when he'd get frustrated, his eyes would glow a little bit, or something involving water would happen. Kord had to fix the plumbing a lot more than he'd like to admit.

We all rode after Eli. After all, his destination seemed pretty obvious. We saw his mecha hidden behind a boulder a few hundred yards from the crazy coot's house. Him and the Burning World, it was all insane.

I gasped when I saw Eli pull something small and bronze from his pocket, his eyes glowing a brilliant sea green color. The only time I'd seen them that color was when the Enigmo slug hit him and whenever he'd get frustrated or angry. The fact that Eli didn't even have his gun or any of his slugs, not even Burpy with him, said a lot. Something big was happening.

He walked into the house, disappearing from our sight. I held Pronto and Kord in place. Whatever was happening, we'd wait for Eli to come back out. Then we'd confront him.

**Back to Eli/Percy's POV **

I held Riptide in my hand in pen form. I wish Burpy knew everything, I definitely would've taken him with me for light. I rolled my eyes, uncapping my trusty sword. It's soft bronze glow gave me just enough light to make out shapes. I smiled as I walked further into the house, being careful to avoid objects. Eventually I made it to the owner's bedroom, and gingerly took the book from his sleeping form, placing the replacement in his arms. I smiled, and quickly retreated, smiling the whole way as I made it back outside. I did it!

"Wahoo! And the almighty Percy Jackson completes yet _another_ impossible mission! I did it! Yass!" I smiled as I spun my sword around, laughing as I hopped onto my mecha. I lifted Riptide high into the sky, figuring I'd let loose a little since I haven't done that in a good few months. I allowed a large ball of water to form above me, laughing as I capped Riptide and made the water dance around me, making large water rings and sea creatures. My mecha slowly trudged forwards, only to come to a stop when I made my mother, Sally Jackson out of water. Even though I hadn't seen my mother in over fifteen years, I still remembered her perfectly. I could feel tears dripping down my face, and I let the illusion of my mother fall, the water plopping into the grass harmlessly. "Oh, Mom! I'd promised that I'd come back from the war alive. I... I'm so sorry, Mom... I promise I'll see you soon.." I figured that I'd ride around a little more. I wasn't quite ready to go back to the Shane Gang Hideout. I allowed my Mecha Lucky to take me to a small pond, and I sat on the edge of the water, letting it lap harmlessly around my feet and legs. I grabbed a small golden coin from my bag, staring down at it. Glancing around once more, I gently made a layer of mist, the glow from the crystals around me somehow making a rainbow. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Sally Jackson, Manhattan. Make it a one sided call, as well please." The mist shifted and changed, showing a woman in her late fifties, an apron covered in flour and blue dye adourning her slim body. Her hair had more gray in it than I'd remembered, but I didn't mind. It only added to my mom's beauty. I tried not to gasp when a little boy came out of nowhere, his brown hair and soft blue green eyes looking pleadingly at my mother.

She let out a small laugh as the boy tugged on her apron. "Oh, stop it, Danny! You're acting like your big brother would! Even Estelle isn't like this!"

The seven or eight year old boy frowned. "But mommy! I don't even know who Big Brother is! Who is he? How come I've never met him?"

My mom's eyes softened, a small tear escaping her eye before she quickly wiped it away. She squat down to Danny's level, smiling at him. "Your big brother's name is Percy Jackson. He's a lot like you. He _loves_ blue food, especially my cookies! Do you know why I make them every day?" Danny shook his head, a 16 year old girl with brown hair and brown eyes walking into the kitchen to snatch a cookie behind my mom's back. "I make these cookies everyday so that way when Percy comes home, he'll have plenty of cookies waiting for him!" She smiled widely, and the girl (I'm assuming Estelle) rolled her eyes.

"Mom, we already talked about this, didn't we?" Estelle looked intently at my mom, the older woman simply scrunching her nose up.

"Yes, I know dear. Percy's girlfriend already told me fifteen years ago, honey. I still have hope though. His soul might've been stolen, but he's been reincarnated. He'll come home eventually." She smiled widely before returning to the cookies, slapping Estelle's hand away. Paul came into the kitchen, only to receive the same punishment as Estelle did. All four of them laughed, they all looked so... happy.

I stared longingly at the IM of my mother, of my family, and I couldn't hold it in anymore.

I clutched my knees to my chest, and I cried.

**Trixie POV**

I hadn't been expecting any of this. We had planned on confronting Eli when he came out of the house, but after seeing him with a glowing _sword_ of all things, as well as him manipulating water, we all decided to wait. He made a water figurine of a kind looking woman, and he cried a little. His mother, that's what he'd said.

I had so many questions, because he'd said his name was Percy, _not_ Eli. He could manipulate water, had a _sword_, a strange gold coin (Pronto almost blew our cover because he wanted it so badly), and even made some sort of video out of water. We were no more than ten feet away from him, so the images and the words said were clear as day.

Percy Jackson. That name came up a lot. And Eli... he seemed so affected when that woman- his mother, I reminded myself- said that Percy was reincarnated, that his soul was stolen, that he'd come home one day...

Things clicked into place. I gently pulled on Pronto and Kord's arms, and we withdrew, heading back to the hideout. Eli was full on sobbing, staring at the image of his family as they all laughed together and ate blue cookies. We were just intruding now.

We made it back to the Hideout relatively quickly, all of us riding quietly. We didn't want to talk about what we'd just seen. Not yet. Once we were all inside sitting on the couch, I spoke up. "So, do we want to confront him about all of that when he gets back, or wait?"

"We should wait. I'm curious, I'll admit, but there's something _big _going on here. He's obviously struggling with something. Maybe we should give him some time to get back to normal before we confront him." I looked at Kord, giving a small nod. I could understand that.

"No! Pronto thinks we should confront him when he gets back! Pronto does not like secrets kept from him! Pronto wants to know what all of that was!" Pronto stood up, hands on his hips in a demanding stance.

I sighed, both of my teammates looking at me. "I'm honestly not sure. How about we wait for him and see how things go, Hmm? _I'll _do the talking, Pronto. No offense, but your 'negotiations' don't exactly work very well most of the time."

Just as Pronto was about to protest, the garage door opened, a tired looking Eli walking inside. He ran a hand through his hair, something he did often, as he walked towards the fridge, pulling the milk out. He poured himself a glass, then began grabbing ingredients. I'm not sure what they were for, but he hadn't noticed us. He was in his own little world right now. If we moved, he'd see us. I looked at Kord and Pronto, and we all nodded, opting to just sit and watch from the main room while Eli worked in the kitchen.

It was really hard to watch him make cookie dough. His eyes were red from crying, and flour and blue dye was all over his clothes, face, and hair. He'd even taken his gloves off, something he never did, and I noticed a small tattoo on his arm. I hadn't even known he'd had that!

He stopped mixing the cookie dough with his hands, staring intently at the tattoo. He gave a small grin, using his forearm to wipe more tears away. What was going on with him?

I looked at my two companions, nodding. I couldn't watch this anymore. I stood up, and Eli immediately got into a fighting stance, something I'd never seen him do. He relaxed when he saw me, although he still looked a little tense since all of his teammates were sitting on the couch. He rose an eyebrow, making it seem like he hadn't been crying mere moments ago. "What're you guys doing up? It's like, three in the morning."

"Who's Percy Jackson?" Eli stopped putting the chocolate chip cookies onto pans. He looked as though he'd frozen in place. He quickly went back to work, his hands shaking a little bit.

"He isn't anybody important, Trixie. Trust me."

I put my hands on the counter, my frustration and anger growing. "Percy Jackson. Who. Is. He?" Eli just continued making cookies, refusing to look me in the eyes. I opted to continue speaking. "Eli, we were there when you went into the house. We saw everything. And I mean _everything_. Since when do you have a sword? Why did you even go to that old bat's house? Since when can you manipulate water? And was that woman with the kids and the man your mother? Who are you _really?"_ Eli gently placed the cookies in the oven, making his way to the sink to wash the dishes and his hands. I sighed. "Eli, you said I should trust you. How can any of us trust you when you won't tell us anything?" By now Kord and Pronto were sitting in the seats next to me at the counter, Eli standing on the other side of the counter washing dishes quietly. My nose twitched in annoyance, and I gave a small growl. "Eli Shane, you'd better start explaining things right now or-"

"Or what?!" He snapped at me, his hands slamming into the concrete counter, cracking the countertop. We all blinked in shock. We didn't know he could even _do _that. "What'll you do? I've got a life, I've got things to do, I-"

He stopped mid sentence, seemingly staring at the wall, a small glare slowing coming across his features. His eyes turned a brilliant sea green again, and the sink exploded, water shooting into the air and the metal sink handles flying into the air.

"Hmph. I disagree entirely! That's not at all what-" He stopped again, glaring even harder. His hand went for his pocket, clutching something tightly in his hands. He sighed, rubbing his hand against his face in agitation. "_Fine_. Whatever. If you say so, _my Lady_." He waved his hand over the sink, the water that was leaking everywhere coming to a stop. He started mumbling to himself, words like "Chaos", "bull crap", and "dam deities".

He took a deep breath, then stared intently at all of us. "There's something I need to tell you."

**Percy/Eli's POV**

Frigging Lady Chaos. This whole situation is a bunch of bull crap! My supposed friends stalked me, and saw _everything_! I don't _want_ to explain everything to them!

**"Percy, I can just _show_ them your past. Would that be easier?"**

"Shut up."

"What? Eli, we didn't say anything." I glared at Trixie, ignoring Kord's and Pronto's incredulous looks.

"I wasn't talking to you." I walked over to the oven, gently removing the cooked blue cookies. I gave a small smile, then grabbed my glass of milk, sitting on the counter near said cookies. "Listen, I'm going to explain everything to you. And when I say everything, I mean _everything_. There's a lot I'm going to tell you. If you don't believe me, then that's fine. I can only hope that you do." I took a deep breath, staring intently at all of them with my deep blue eyes. "I need you to swear on the River Styx you won't tell _anyone_ what I'm about to tell you. Understand?"

Obviously they didn't, but they all agreed. I could hear thunder, even from underground, and nodded. Trixie, Kord and Pronto were confused what the noise was, but they didn't say anything. I gave a small smile.

"Good. That makes things all the easier." I took another deep breath, absentmindedly flipping my pen between my fingers. "This is going to be long, confusing, and complicated. You'll need to be patient and wait until the end. Then, and only then, will I answer any questions you might have for me. Understand?" They all have small nods, and I gently grabbed four cookies, giving each of them one (including myself). I could see the slugs sitting on the counter near the cookies, all staring intently at me. Burpy seemed like he was trying to burn holes through my head, and I sighed. "Yeah, Yeah, I need to explain things to you guys as well. Go sit with the others, and I'll bring you guys a cookie or two to share." They all nodded enthusiastically, but Burpy hopped onto my shoulder. He obviously had no intention of moving. I gave the slugs a cookie or two and then gave Burpy part of my cookie.

It was time to get serious. I allowed my eyes to glow a sea green, showing my demigod status. "My name is-was, Perseus Jackson. I'm from the surface world. None of you know about the surface, or the Burning World, so I'll tell you the basics. Most of the stuff said about it, from the endless blue sky and the bright burning sun, is true. I can answer more questions about it later, but I'm going to tell you about _my_ life. You see, there's a... secret society, I guess you could say, on the surface. We're called Demigods. Half god, half mortal. My dad is Poseidon, the God of the sea, earthquakes, horses, and other smaller things, but those are the basics. He's what we call one of the Big Three, which makes him one of the most powerful gods. I'd be turning... let's see here... ah, 33 years old in August if I'd still been alive in my old body. Ah, no questions yet! I'm not done!" I wagged a finger at Trixie, said girl quietly munching on her cookie. "You see, that's where the sword and water powers come in. I can actually speak four different languages, Slugterran, English, Greek, and Latin. Greek. That's what I am. My race, I mean. Anyways, the basics of my previous life: my mom is named Sally Jackson, my step dad is named Paul Blofis, and I fought in two wars. I was sort of the hero of my society." I rubbed my neck sheepishly, ignoring the incredulous looks I recieved from everyone (slugs included). "But in the second war, I was fighting Gaea, the primordial of the Earth. That's what the planet is called." Trixie, Kord and Pronto gave me confused looks. "A planet is like a giant rock floating in space." More confused looks. "Ughs, I'll explain it all later! Listen, this lady, Gaea, was basically like all of the rock and dirt in Slugterra. She's literally the embodiment of it all. I fought her with some friends and gods, and we won. But Gaea wanted revenge on me. So, she dragged me beneath the soil, suffocating me to death."

Silence.

They all gaped at me. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, so suffocating to death wasn't exactly fun or anything, but it happened fifteen years ago. I'm fine, see?" I motioned at my body, taking another bite from my cookie. "Like I was saying though, that day Percy Jackson died. Lady Chaos, the creator of literally _everything_, gave me an option. I could go on to the afterlife, living in luxury with dead comrades while I wait for my friends and family. _Or_, I could be reincarnated, and continue to help save the world from an upcoming catastrophe."

"You chose reincarnation," Trixie said, eyes wide.

I nodded. "Yup. I was born in January, a little over fifteen years ago, with my memories and powers intact. I was raised as Eli Shane, and here I am, ready to protect both Slugterra and the surface. None of these worlds should _ever_ meet. Not mine, not the surface, and not Slugterra. My job is to make sure that the surface doesn't find Slugterra, and that crazy Slugterrans don't reach the surface."

"So _that's _why you joined the expedition! I think I get it." Kord nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, two questions though; what do we call you and why's the cookie blue?"

I gave a small laugh, smiling at my friends. "In this life, my name's Eli. That's what you call me, that's who I am now. I planned on returning to the surface in a few days, but with that maniac on the loose, I need to wait for a few weeks instead. And why the blue food? You see, I had a different step dad named Smelly Gabe. He'd told my mom there was no such thing as blue food, and my mom took it as a challenge. That's why blue stuff is so important to me, especially blue food."

"Is that why you were so excited to meet me? Because I'm _blue_?"

"Duh!" I laughed at him, the others chiming in. "Anyways, I'm sorry I kept it all a secret. I just... I was told by Lady Chaos herself that I wasn't to tell anyone about everything, so I've kept it to myself for the past fifteen years. You're the first people-and slugs-that I've told."

They all nodded in understanding, and asked a few basic questions about the surface, to which I happily explained. We easily stayed up until the sun rose, and all of the blue cookies had been eaten.

**Time skip...**

I stared intently at the canyon below me. "Are you sure about this, Lady Chaos? I don't know about this..."

**"Of course I'm sure, Percy! Now just use your mecha to fling yourself down there! Lucky got upgraded by Kord a week or two ago, remember? You literally flung yourself into this very chasm when Blakk was chasing you! What's the difference now?"**

"Um, first off, I'm all by myself-OW! Burpy!" I glared at the Infernous slug that sat on my shoulder, acting as innocent as possible. I'd left my other slugs with the Shane Gang, and they promised to take good care of them. Burpy insisted on going with me, though. I sighed, taking a deep breath, and flung Lucky into the deep and dark chasm below. Her mechanical wings let loose, and we glided down to the untouched Drop Zone I'd seen when facing off against those devil creatures. Thankfully, Riptide worked against them, and I managed to kill a few. They'd screamed about a godling, I'd rolled my eyes, and we'd left them in the dust. The Shadow clan was happy, the portal was up, so my job was completed. I gently pulled a black tarp from my enchanted back pack (thank you Lady Chaos), quickly covering Lucky up. I reluctantly placed my blaster and canisters under the tarp as well. "You're sure I won't need these, Lady Chaos?"

**"Yes, I'm sure of it. Now sit down and push the button already."** She sounded extremely exasperated and frustrated with me, so I quickly strapped in, making sure everything was working properly.

I looked at Burpy, the two of us nodding at one another. I pushed the button, and waited for a few seconds before we were launched into the sky, flying through a hole in the top of Slugterra. Burpy and I smiled widely, cheering as we were launched upwards. Soon enough, we were in yet another sewer system. I smiled.

I was back.

It'd take no more than two days to reach Long Island Sound. After all, Canada was just above New York, and the point I'd resurfaced from was close to Michigan. Burpy was usually on my shoulder, but the few times I'd entered a city or town he was stuck in my bag. He didn't seem to mind, and it _was_ a bag meant for slugs, so it wasn't that bad.

I couldn't help the large grin that split my face as I stared up at my apartment complex. It'd been fifteen years.

I was finally home.

Sure, I'd encountered quite a few monsters on the way here, but it only took a day or two for me to race to Manhattan. I was tired, yeah, but I made it. I walked up to the apartment complex, ringing for my apartment number.

"Hello? Who is this?" I could hear my mom on the intercom, her voice kind but wary.

I took a risk, but figured she'd let me in. "Uh, Mom? I-It's Percy... I... I'm finally home..."

There was silence, what sounded like crying, and finally a shaky "Percy? Honey, is it really you?"

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Heh, yeah Mom. I know it's been a while, but I made a promise to you that I'd come back alive. I know that was a long time ago, but-"

The door buzzed, signaling that it was unlocked. I smiled as I opened the door. "Thanks, Mom."

I climbed up the stairs, and saw my mom standing outside of the apartment door, a rolling pin in her hand as she glanced between the elevator and staircase. When she saw me, she gasped. Once again, I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck. "I know that I look and sound different, but that's sorta what reincarnation does to you. Hehe. I, uh, I really missed you, Mom." I could feel tears leaking down my face as I slowly approached. I was only five feet or so away from her when she leveled the rolling pin at my face.

"I need proof. As much as I'd like to say it's really you, Percy, I need proof."

I blinked at my mom, both of us with tears leaking from our eyes. I smiled, nodding. I gingerly reached into my pocket, pulling Riptide out. "Lady Chaos allowed me to keep my memories and abilities, as well as Riptide. If you'd like, I can manipulate some water or something-"

I was pulled into a bone crushing hug, and I allowed my head to rest on my mother's shoulder as I hugged her tightly. We both sank to our knees, openly weeping. "Oh, Percy! My baby boy!" She somehow hugged me tighter, then pushed me away to inspect me. "Hm, a little scrawnier than your previous life, aren't ya?"

"Hey!" She laughed at me, and I laughed as well.

"You've still got plenty of muscle though, and you seem to be doing alright." She paused, gently lifting my long bangs up to inspect them. "...Did you dye your hair blue?"

"What?! No! I was born with this hair color, thank you very much!" I crossed my arms, cheeks puffed out in defiance. I glanced at my mom, and she began laughing once more. I smiled before kissing her on the cheek. "I missed you, Mom. You know, I tried IMing you a month or so ago." She gasped at me, but I continued. "It was only a one way call, though, so you couldn't see me. I just... I wanted to check on you." I smiled knowingly, wiggling my eyebrows. "So, you finally got some kids, Hmm?"

She gently pushed me away, laughing as we got up and walked inside. "Yeah, you've got a sister named Estelle and a little brother named Danny. Estelle's 16 and Danny's 8. How old are you, exactly?"

I rose an eyebrow, a small grin playing on my lips. "Oh, technically I'm 32, but I'll be 33 in August." My mom rolled her eyes at me. "Fifteen. Just in January. Sorta strange that my younger sister is older than me though." My mom laughed at me, and I walked into the kitchen.

Paul was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. He glanced up, looked back at his paper, then glanced at me again. His eyes went a little wide before they narrowed. "Sally, Who's this young man? Did Estelle finally get a boyfriend?"

My own eyes went wide. "Oh Gods, no! That's disgusting, Paul! Why would I ever date my own sister?!"

Paul blinked in confusion before blinking a few more times. "...Percy?" He asked hesitantly, slowly standing from his seat.

"Yup!" I smiled at him, the same grin I'd always had, both in this life and the previous. "I'd made a promise to Mom before I died, and that was that I'd come back alive. Obviously that didn't happen, and this seemed to be the next best thing."

Paul looked ready to continue, but a little boy-Danny, I reminded myself- went scampering through the room, smiling as Estelle chased after him. "I'm the Tickle Monster! I'm gonna getcha! Raaawwwrr!"

I laughed with my mom and Paul as the two slowly stopped, staring at me with eyes full of confusion. "Who's this, Mom?" Estelle glanced at me warily while Danny walked up to me, staring at me.

"What's that outfit? You dress funny."

"Pfft." I gave a small laugh, ignoring my mom and Paul's smiles. I crouched down to Danny's level, smiling widely at him. "It's nice to finally meet you, Danny. My name's Percy. I'm your big brother."

**Estelle's POV**

I didn't buy it. Whatever this guy was selling, there was no way what he just said was true. "Yeah right. My brother would be 32 right now. You look like you're my age, maybe younger. Why should we believe you?"

The blue haired boy stood up, staring intently at me. His eyes flashed a glowing sea green, making me stumble a little. He glanced at mom, _my_mom**. **"Do they know?"

She nodded. "I told them everything. Your life as Percy Jackson is what they listened to before bed when growing up."

'Percy' nodded. "Good. That makes this a lot easier." He glanced at me, seeming to size me up. "So, you're Estelle?" I nodded, standing up straighter. His eyes softened. "You know, I was really excited to meet you. I wish I could've met you sooner." He looked me over once more before sitting criss cross on the floor in front of Danny. "Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Danny nodded enthusiastically while I eyed 'Percy' warily. I still didn't believe this boy. I knew about the Greek world. After all, Artemis asked me to join her hunt. I had said maybe in another year or two, and she agreed. She gave me her blessing, so that way I'd be able to see if anything came after my family. Plus, with the Seven, Thalia, and Nico constantly dropping by with their weirdness, strange things happened all the time.

So seeing this boy manipulate water to make a strange ST star symbol that was also on his shirt confused me. Only one person was known to be able to do that...

"Show me Riptide. For all I know, you could just be blessed by Poseidon. Only Percy has Riptide."

A bronze pen was tossed my way, and I caught it, staring at it curiously. "Well? You gonna just stand there or uncap it?" I looked at him as he continued to make different things for Danny (most of them were symbols or sea creatures). I gently pulled the cap off, watching as the sword sprung to life.

This was definitely the famous and legendary Riptide. Which meant that the boy in front of me really was...

"Percy Jackson." I said it breathlessly, Shock filling my face as I stared at my reincarnated brother.

He simply rose an eyebrow. "Uh, Yeah. I thought we'd already clarified this?" He turned his attention back to Danny, laughing as they made a fish out of water (literally) swim around my younger brother.

"Wha-"

He abruptly stood up, cutting my question off. "Mom, I need to talk to you about what's going on."

She sighed. "Danger again?" He nodded. "Alright. First thing's first though. You smell like a sewer and your outfit is tripping me out a little bit. Why don't you go grab some of your clothes? They're in a box in Danny's room." Percy nodded, walking to the back of the apartment like he owned the place. Then again, he did live here for most of his life. Well, his previous life, at least.

As soon as he was gone, I looked at my mom incredulously. "You were being serious this whole time?" She nodded. "I thought that... it was just your way of grieving..."

"No. It wasn't. He's back, and the fact that he's alive is enough for me." She walked forwards, wrapping me and Danny in a hug. Dad walked over, hugging us as well. "Don't worry, he's only going to add to the family, making our love grow. Our family... is finally complete, Estelle."

Somehow, I wasn't sure about that.

Percy/Eli's POV

I showered quickly, letting Burpy relax on the countertop next to my normal clothes. My Slugterran clothes were tossed on the counter as well, my boots, gloves, and pads (knee pads, shoulder pad, and belt) gently piled next to them. I quickly dried off after what must've been a good thirty minutes, smiling as I watched the water fly into the drain. I pulled my blue AHS swim team hoodie on over my Camp Half-Blood shirt, as well as a pair of boxers and khaki shorts. I frowned as I slipped my black Converse on. My boots were way more comfy than these. Oh well, these tennis shoes were nostalgic, and that made me smile. I scrunched my face up at the SPQR tattoo that had somehow come with me into this life. I wasn't born with it, mind you, but somehow all the scars, the tattoo, any sort of marking that I'd recieved in my previous life was on my new body. They'd just one day show up, and then I'd have to try hiding them from Uncle Jimmo. The scars started developing when I was probably ten or eleven, so Jimmo started thinking I was out doing bad things. My tattoo only solidified his suspicions when I was thirteen, but he never really did anything about it. He just said I made a stupid decision and left it at that.

I pulled my sleeve down, quickly running my fingers through my hair to help tame it a little bit. Even in this life, my hair never did what I wanted it to do. I sighed, grabbing my clothes and tossing them in the washing machine as Burpy hopped into my backpack as I slung it onto my back.

I gingerly walked to the main room where the couch was, smiling at my mom as she, Paul, and the kids all sat on the couch. I sat down in the chair across from them, gently placing my orange bag onto the ground next to me. "Mom, this is very serious. I need you to swear on the Styx not to tell anyone about what I'm about to say. All of you." I glanced knowingly at each individual, and they all nodded. Even Danny looked determined. A few minutes and some thunder later, and I nodded. "Alright. Here's the deal. When I died, Gaea suffocated me to death beneath the soil, right? Well, Lady Chaos brought me to her, and told me that the Earth still needed me. She promised to reincarnate me, with all my memories, powers, and Riptide as long as I helped protect something. I agreed, and that's why I'm still alive and not in the Isle of the Blessed. Mom..." I stared at her intently, showing her how serious this all was. "There's a lot more to this planet than we ever could've realized." I recieved a lot of curious looks, but I continued. Danny had a look on his face like he was watching a super crazy action movie with me as the main character. "The place I have to protect isn't just the modern day world as well as the Greek world, but an underground society as well. It's called Slugterra, a place where magic, machines, nature, creatures, and slugs work in harmony. My job is to make sure Slugterra never learns of the surface world, our world, and for this world to never interact or learn of what's beneath their very feet. Got it so far?" Everyone nodded, signaling for me to continue. "My father in this life was named Will Shane. I'm Eli Shane, the protector and sort of like the law of Slugterra. I protect them, keep them safe, from a man named Dr. Blakk. He killed my father, and left Slugterra a mess for five years. I've only been in Slugterra for a few months, but I've learned a lot. Let me just say, that what Blakk's doing to the slugs, Slugterra's main source of everything, is wrong. We call them Ghouls. They're mutated slugs that Blakk makes and sells. He's destroying Slugterra, and hurting the slugs as well. Lady Chaos has allowed me to return to the surface for a month, then a week or two in the winter. I'm going to head to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow and inform Chiron of the situation. I will inform the camp that I'm alive, but I will not be telling anyone else besides you and Chiron about Slugterra." My bag moved against my foot, drawing everyone's attention. I sighed, opening the bag and allowing Burpy to jump onto the armrest of the chair. Everyone gasped, and Danny sat on the floor in front of Burpy. Said slug jumped into Danny's hand, smiling at the boy who reciprocated the action. "Right. Mom, Paul, Estelle, Danny, this is Burpy. He was my dad's before... before he died. Burpy's one of my best friends and the greatest slug out there!" I smiled widely, and allowed my family to hang out with the orange and yellow slug. "He's an Infernous slug, incredibly rare, and a little... ah, hot headed, you could say." To prove my point, Burpy's head caught fire as he glared at me, startling Danny and Estelle as they stared at the slug. Even Paul was staring at Burpy like he was the best Christmas gift out there. "Anyways, that's pretty much it. Is it alright if I spend the night? I'll leave in the morning for Camp. And I hope you don't mind that I threw my clothes in the wash."

"Of course honey! Stay as long as you'd like. You'd better IM me at least once a week from now on, understand? I don't care where you are, you'll do it. Understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" I saluted to her, smiling as we all laughed and hugged. We ate dinner that night, and I listened to Danny and Estelle talk about their goals, dreams, even Camp. Even though they were both technically mortals, Poseidon had blessed them both, giving them the ability to breath underwater and to talk to horses and sea animals. It wasn't the same as mine, but they were sorta like honorary demigods. My mom said that they could come to camp with me if they wanted to, but they had to remember not to say anything about Slugterra, and that I was to check up on them at least once a day for her. Naturally I agreed, and that morning we were off, Mom and Paul in the front of the Prius (the Pegasus hooves were still there), and Danny, Estelle, and I in the back playing I Spy. Mom had given me a duffel bag of surface clothes to wear that belonged to me before I died. I was a little shorter than my previous body was, but I was around this height when my old body was my age (physically, not mentally for obvious reasons). My shoes still fit, and the clothes were only slightly baggy on me.

As we pulled up to Thalia's Tree, my heart swelled with a nostalgic warmth that I'd been longing for for over fifteen years. I practically flung myself from the car as soon as we stopped, smiling as I held my duffle bag in one hand. Burpy sat on my shoulder, confused about where we were but hopped into my bag anyways. Danny waved goodbye to Burpy before zipping my bag shut for me. The two of them had grown unnaturally close to one another, making me smile. My siblings, my mom, even Paul... I couldn't ask for a better family. My mom and Paul gave us all hugs, and made me promise to bring the kids back a few days before I had to leave so I could stay with them for a while. I agreed, kissed my mom on the cheek, and trudged up the hill, my grin growing wider with every step.

Camp Half-Blood sat in the valley below me. The strawberry fields were still vast, Demeter kids and Satyrs casually growing strawberries. I could see that there were a lot more cabins and what looked like a large garden full of statues and miniature temples, and the dining pavilion seemed larger. Besides that, most everything seemed untouched. The Big House was still there, and I grinned as I walked towards the building.

Percy Jackson was back.

Danny held my hand and Estelle's as we walked up the Big House porch. I knocked, and smiled down at Chiron who was sitting in his wheelchair. "Ah! Estelle, Danny! I wasn't expecting Sally to send you both so soon. And who might this be?" He turned his eyes towards me, looking me up and down quizzically. He was probably asking himself why some random stranger was holding hands with the Blofis kids and smiling crazily at said old centaur.

"It's good to see you again, Chiron."

He blinked a few times, and I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. His eyes seemed to widen in understanding. "...Perseus?"

"Pfft. Come on, you know I never liked that name." I straightened up, becoming serious. "I need to explain a few things to you. Are you alone right now?"

"Yes, of course. Please, come in, come in." He ushered us inside, and I nodded. Once inside, I sat down at the ping pong table (some things never change), and dove into the story of my new life. By the end, Chiron simply nodded in understanding.

"So, a Shane, huh? It's been a long time since I've run into one. How's Slugterra doing, my boy?"

I blinked a few times. "Wait, you knew?"

"Of course I did. What kind of immortal centaur would I be if I didn't know about Slugterra? Granted, I've never been there, but I know of it."

"Oh. Well, this man, Dr. Blakk, he killed my mortal father and has destroyed and corrupted a lot of the land and slugs. Lady Chaos has allowed me to come to camp for a month, and another two weeks in the winter. I didn't want anyone besides you and my mother, as well as Paul, Danny and Estelle, to know." He nodded, and we went silent.

"So how is she?" The old trainer looked at me quizzically. "Annabeth. She's still alive... right?"

"Oh! Yes, my boy, she's doing fine. She took your death pretty hard, especially when we were told your soul was stolen, but when we recieved news you'd been reincarnated she gave a small smile and just said she was glad you'd moved on. I think... I think you should talk to her. You shouldn't tell her about Slugterra, but you need to let her know you're alive and here." I nodded, before turning around to walk out the door. "One more thing, Percy. You... did you bring any slugs with you?" I nodded, allowing Burpy to come out of my bag. "An Infernous, remarkable. Is he the only one?" Another nod. "Good. I just wanted to see a slug from Slugterra. If you'd brought multiple then it might be even more difficult to hide your secret."

I nodded once again, before walking out the door, Estelle and Danny walking to the Poseidon cabin with me. I recieved a lot of strange glances from campers, and I even saw a few of the partial immortals (Clarisse, the Stolls, Jason and Piper). I opted to just have a meeting instead, I could easily announce it in the pavilion for lunch or dinner instead. Dinner, yeah... I'll do it then. We entered the Poseidon Cabin, and I smiled at my bed. It was still a mess, my belongings scattered across the nightstand near it. Danny rubbed his neck shyly.

"Uh, I might've... taken your bed while you were gone... hehehe... I can move though!"

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's yours now. I'll take this one across from you and Estelle. Is it alright if I clean up my stuff over there for you?"

Danny nodded at me, and I gently set my duffle bag on the bed, Burpy quickly unzipping my orange backpack and hopping on my shoulder. I grabbed the pictures I had framed on my nightstand, placing them on my new nightstand. One of me and Annabeth, one of all the Seven standing in front of the Argo II, another of Thalia, Nico, Jason, Hazel, and I, and one last picture of Grover, Annabeth and I from our first quest. I smiled at the pictures, gently setting them down and putting my clothes in the dresser.

Estelle and Danny seemed to be settled in quickly, and I had barely finished unpacking before we all went to the lake to kayak. "No cheating, Brother!" Danny looked at me pointedly, and I nodded, laughing.

"Of course, Danny. I wouldn't dream of doing that. Ready? Three... two... ONE!" We launched into the water, and I felt free for the first time in a while. Yes, I missed Slugterra, as well as my friends and slugs, but I'd also missed this. I cruised forwards, using my strong arms to row faster.

"Hey, Per-uh, Eli! Wait for us!" Estelle glared at me when I turned around, and I laughed. I turned and steered towards the dock, only to stop dead in my tracks. There, standing on the dock, was-

"Annabeth." I stared at her, her piercing gray eyes penetrating through my heart. Dam, I'd missed her. The way she was analyzing me like she would an opponent made me smile. I let my eyes wander to the people next to her, and my eyes widened.

Nico and Thalia stood next to her. Even though they all looked only a few years older than when I'd left, I knew how old they were. Thalia still looked the same, she was a hunter of Artemis after all. But Nico looked older, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes similarly to mine. Annabeth somehow looked even prettier than before, and I desperately wished to run to her, to kiss her.

I didn't realize that she looked like a twenty two year old and I appeared fifteen.

"Haha! You lose, Brother! Haha!" I looked at Danny, frowning as he touched the dock near Annabeth's feet, Estelle following soon after. I'd spaced out and lost.

"Dam it..." I slowly rowed forwards, ignoring Annabeth's gaze as I allowed my kayak to hit the lake's shore. I got out, placing the paddles in the kayak as I jogged up to Estelle and Danny, the two of them eagerly talking with Nico and Thalia.

"-and I beat him! I even beat Big Sister! Did you see that, Nico?! Did ya?" Danny was bouncing excitedly in front of Nico, the older boy cracking a grin.

"Yeah, I did Danny. So, who's this?" Nico stared at me, his dark eyes practically scanning my soul. It wouldn't surprise me if he were.

I strode forwards confidently, ignoring Annabeth and Thalia's scrutinizing gazes. "The name's Eli. Eli Shane. I'm undetermined, but Danny and Estelle see me as a brother and Poseidon has allowed me to stay in their cabin until I'm claimed." I shook Nico's hand, making my grip firm to let him know that just because I looked young didn't mean I was weak. "And you three are...?"

"Nico Di Angelo. Son of Hades." He waited for a reaction, and I simply smiled.

"Nice to meet you."

Thalia strode forwards, her silver circlet and Hunter clothes giving her an ethereal look. "Thalia, lieutenant of The Hunters of Artemis, Daughter of Zeus." She grasped my hand, sending a small shock to my body. My fingers squeezed her hand a little harder but I didn't flinch besides that.

"Nice to meet you as well." I finally turned towards Annabeth, grinning at her as I held my hand out. "And you?"

She humphed, but grabbed my hand anyways. "Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Anyways, I'd like to go explore the Camp a little more if you don't mind."

"Wait a minute. Those clothes you're wearing... that AHS sweatshirt belongs to Sally's oldest son. She would never give that to you unless..."

"What? I didn't know Sally had an older son. Who is it?" I looked at the sweatshirt, pretending to be confused.

Annabeth glared at me, her eyes analyzing every detail of me. "...his name was- is, Percy Jackson."

I blinked.

"Who?"

The trio of older kids stared at me incredulously. "You don't know?" Nico looked shocked, and Thalia looked ready to blow a gasket.

I shrugged innocently. "Nope! This is my first time coming to Camp. Who's Percy?"

Annabeth sighed, turned around, and motioned for me to follow her. I looked at Estelle and Danny, the two of them wearing concerned faces (although Danny looked like he was trying not to laugh). I sighed, following my girlfriend. "So, where are we going, exactly?"

"The Garden."

"And... why, exactly?"

"So you can understand who Percy is. What he means to this Camp, this world." I nodded, my eyebrows scrunched up. I honestly was curious about what was in the garden. As we entered, I realized the garden held small temples, rare magical plants, and...

"Gravestone markers..." I frowned at the graves, catching myself after seeing Beckendorf's name next to Silena's. "Who did this? It's... it's beautiful."

"I did." I whipped my head towards my girlfriend, following her to the middle of the garden. A large statue stood proudly made of marble.

"Is that..?"

"Percy Jackson, yes." I stared at the large statue, confusion written across my face. My sword Riptide was drawn, displayed proudly in the air and pointing towards the sky. Water made of marble swirled around me, my hair a giant mess like usual. Even my SPQR tattoo was shown.

I unconsciously reached towards my own tattoo, the fabric of the sweatshirt hiding it from sight. I could feel someone staring at me, and turned to see Annabeth staring at my arm intently. "So, who are you, really?" She reached towards me, and I flinched away.

"I'm nobody important. I already told you, my name's Eli Shane. Now, are you going to tell me who exactly Percy is?"

Annabeth sighed, sitting in the grass as she gazed at the statue. "Perseus Jackson. That's his name. He fought in two wars, and saved the camp. You know Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Captain America? Ya know, their world's big guys? That's what Percy was for us. He fought for his friends and family, and was loyal to the end. He died a little over fifteen years ago, defeating Gaea, the primordial. Do you understand now?" She turned towards me, her silver eyes boring into my deep blue eyes. "Percy's the Camp's hero, their idol. However, his soul was stolen and reincarnated. We don't know if he has his memories, abilities, or any of that. But we know he's about your age. So, Eli, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

I shook my head, raising an eyebrow at her. "Listen, uh, Annabeth, was it? I don't know what you're expecting from me, but I'm nobody special. I'm just staying at camp for a month or so. I already talked to Chiron about it. Anyways, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go check some stuff out." I stood up, walking out of the garden and quickly wiping the stray tears away from my face.

_Dam, this is harder than I thought..._

I left the garden, instead exploring the lava wall (it was somehow bigger and scarier, but I completed it nonetheless), the strawberry fields, and even the archery range. Turns out I'm actually really good at shooting, and that I was almost as good as a Son or Daughter of Apollo. I even faced off against Will (him and Nico are still going on strong and even got married), even though I lost. I was proud of myself. I wanted to go to the arena, as did Danny and Estelle, but I was scared that I'd be found out before tonight. I'm not sure why I was so protective of my identity, but it was sort of... nice, not having everyone know who I was. There was a part of me that desperately longed to tell everyone that I was okay, and I'd already promised myself I'd announce who I was tonight. I nodded to myself, and instead opted to go back to my cabin until dinner time. After all, there was only an hour left, and Burpy was getting cranky from staying in my bag for so long.

As soon as I closed the door, Burpy was out of my bag, head on fire as he shouted angrily at me. "Hey now, _you're _the one that wanted to stay with me all day! There's even a one way window on my bag so you can see everything outside! I told you that you probably would've liked staying in Slugterra more than staying with me, but that's your choice buddy." I sighed, holding my nose between my pointer finger and thumb. "Listen, Burpy. I can't exactly let you sit on my shoulder here. This is the _surface_. Unless you can think of a better solution that doesn't involve revealing you, then it's either the backpack or the cabin. Got it?" Burpy frowned but nodded anyways. "I'm sorry, Burpy. If you'd like, I can snag you some food? The Camp makes delicious food, ya know." I wriggled my eyebrows, and the orange and yellow slug just rolled his eyes.

I smiled before pulling out my own Shane Journal. It was written in the Shane Code, so only a Shane would understand it. I know, I know, a journal sounds stupid. But when you've been reincarnated and have already lost your memories once, you learn to keep a journal just in case. And you don't just forget a language that you've understood for years upon years unless you don't practice it.

For the next hour, I wrote in my journal, writing everything down in the Shane's Code so nobody'd be able to read it. These were my feelings and thoughts, after all. I didn't need somebody reading about this stuff.

The conch horn blew, and I stood up, Burpy hopping in my bag and giving me a smile before zipping the bag up. I laughed, placed my journal in my bag (I never went anywhere without it), and walked out of Cabin 3.

Time to cause some Chaos...

I could hear Lady Chaos laughing in my head at my pun, making me laugh aloud. I recieved some strange looks, but I ignored them. I sat at the Poseidon table with Danny and Estelle, smiling and talking to them about what they did today. They'd gone to the arena for a few hours and sparred with Nico and Thalia while I went with Annabeth. Then they did the lava wall and Danny practiced swordfighting while Estelle worked on her archery skills. We walked to the fire, and I smiled at Hestia, bowing to her. Her eyes went wide before she smiled back at me, and I scraped some potatoes and chicken into the fire. "Poseidon, Lady Chaos, Hestia." I watched as the fire lit up a brilliant sea green color before returning to normal. I could hear people talking behind my back as I returned to the table, ignoring all of the stares I recieved.

Dinner went by relatively quickly, and I couldn't help the small smile that spread across my face when Chiron stood and looked at me, giving me a small nod. "Today, we have a new camper... Eli Shane, I believe it was?" I nodded, smiling at him enthusiastically. "...he's... uh, well... he's going to make an announcement."

"An announcement?!"

"A new camper?"

"What in the name of Hades.."

I stood up, ignoring the looks sent my way as I walked up next to Chiron. I smiled at my mentor, nodding in thanks. I smiled at the people sitting in front of me, one hand in my khaki pockets and the other rubbing my neck sheepishly. A few of the immortal campers seemed to recognize the action, a few even letting small gasps escape their lips. "Uh, hello! My name's Eli Shane, and I... I'm fifteen! Yeah... and... I'm... uh..." Dam, I'd had it planned out in my head before! I opted for the easiest answer, rolling my sleeve up to display my SPQR tattoo. I quickly took out and uncapped Riptide, earning multiple gasps. I allowed my eyes to become sea green as I lifted the water from goblets into the air. I stood confidently now, ready for my next words. "My name is Eli Shane, the reincarnated Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon." I capped Riptide, allowing the water to splash back into goblets as me eyes returned to normal and I quickly walked away, my sleeve falling back over the tattoo. I could hear Estelle and Danny snickering behind me, the word 'doofus' seeming to be exchanged between the two of them. Nobody got up as I walked away. I must've shocked them pretty good.

I made my way to the beach, sitting down in the soft sand as I stared out at the calm surf. I smiled, watching the last sliver of sun slowly hide behind the waves.

I could hear people marching this way, but I chose to ignore them. Instead, I removed my bag, quickly tossing some chicken into the bag so Burpy wouldn't be left starving, then placing the bag on my back.

"...Percy?"

"Hmm?" I didn't look up. I didn't need to look up to know that voice.

"How... who...?"

I looked up at Annabeth, smiling widely at her. "Oh, come on, Wise Girl. I'm back, that's all that matters, right?" I smiled as I returned my attention to the ocean, my hand playing with the string from my hoodie.

"But..." I could hear a low growl, then a good thump in my head.

"OW! What the Hades, Annabeth?! What'd you do that for?!"

"For dying! What do you think, you Seaweed Brain?! My gods, how you've managed to live another fifteen years is beyond me." She huffed in annoyance, making me smile. She sat down next to me, her hand horribly close to mine. I stared at it, longing to reach out, to hold it, to-

"So, do you... remember _everything_?"

I looked up into her steely gray eyes, smiling lovingly at her. "Of course I do, Annabeth. You have no idea how hard it was to walk away from you earlier." There was silence for a moment, and I continued. "I still love you, ya know." I could feel her gaze turn to me, Shock written on her face, but I just stared at the ocean. "I never stopped loving you."

"Percy..." I glanced at her, smiling at her. My eyes went wide when her lips crashed against mine, but I grabbed her tighter, allowing the kiss to deepen. Gods, I'd missed this.

I'd missed _her_.

When we broke apart, we both smiled lovingly at eachother, our hands gripping one another's. A painful kick to the hip made me fly up and hold my rump. I glared at Thalia, who simply glared back. "You saw us a few times today, even _talked_ to us, and didn't say ANYTHING?!?! You Kelp Head! Do you have any idea how pis-"

"Oh, you're fine, Pinecone Face. I wanted it to be a surprise!" I smiled cheekily at her, ignoring her death inducing glare.

I blinked when I noticed all the people standing behind her. Jason, Nico, Hazel, Frank, Piper, Leo, Calypso (since when was she set free?!?!), Clarisse, Chris, Travis, Connor, Will, Katie Gardner, and even Grover and Juniper all glaring daggers at me. "Uh... sorry?" I offered weakly, only to run away screaming as a giant horde of angry semi-immortal demigods (as well as a satyr and nymph) chased me through the Camp. "I SAID I'M SORRY! AGKH!" I screeched when Thalia's spear landed by my feet.

I raced towards my cabin, seeing Danny and Estelle standing in the doorframe with deadpanned looks on their faces. Danny waved his arm frantically for me to hurry up, and I put on a burst of speed that shocked me. I made it to the door, Danny quickly closing it while Estelle locked it just in time for an arrow to pierce the door next to my head.

I raced to the window next to my bed, looking through it. "You almost killed me, you retarded Pinecone!" An arrow was pointed at my head, and I ducked just in time for it to shoot through the window and into the wall. I turned towards the arrow, then looked at the window with wide eyes. I bowed on my bed, pretending to weep. "Oh, please forgive me! I'm sorry I DIED!" I spat the last part out bitterly, making some of my friends outside recoil. "Yeah, I didn't do that on PURPOSE, ya know! Sorry for SAVING YOU ALL!" I stuck my tongue out, drawing the curtains closed and laughing loudly. Danny and Estelle just stared at me incredulously, making me laugh even louder. "Oh, don't worry. They'll calm down soon enough. Plus, if they damage the cabin anymore than Poseidon might get angry and drown them or something. He's a kind god, but he _is_ a god." I frowned a little when someone knocked on the door. I walked up to it, ignoring Estelle and Danny's protests. "Hello? Who isss ittt?" I said in a sing song voice through the door.

"Percy, open up."

I sighed loudly so she could hear through the door, "ugh, fine Annabeth. As long as everyone promises not to annoy me or KILL ME OR MAIM ME, then it's fine." I opened the door, staring at everyone entering the cabin and sitting on beds, the floor, and even the empty nightstand of the fourth (and last) bed in the Poseidon cabin. I placed my hands on my hips, looking at everyone individually. "So, questions. Raise your hand." Pretty much every hand went up.

I sighed exasperatedly and pointed at Annabeth. "Where _were _you these past fifteen years? I mean, if you've had your memories this whole time, then why come back now?"

I scratched my head, staring at the wall. "Well, I can tell you that I was with my family for the first ten years, then lived with my uncle Jimmo for the remaining five years. I... I was reincarnated for a reason, Annabeth. I promised Lady Chaos I wouldn't say." I heard multiple gasps, but instead reached into my bag, grabbing my journal and sitting down next to Danny as I uncapped Riptide, placing the cap on the hilt and turning it into a usable pen. I wrote down in my journal in Shane Code about the events that had just transpired, as well as what was happening. Riptide's golden, glowing ink sometimes reminded me of ichor, what with the way it seemed to glow with such a godly aura.

"Uh, what's that? And what language?" Annabeth had moved to sit next to me, Danny sitting on my other side while everyone got up to crowd around me.

"It's my journal, Annabeth. And it's technically not a language. It's my family's code. Hey, back off, Jason! Come on dude!" I shooed him away from my face since he was literally leaning upside down in front of me to see what I was writing. He smiled sheepishly, making me grin.

"Oh. Can you teach it to me?" I could hear the hopefulness in Annabeth's voice. I sighed.

"Sorry. I can't teach this to you, but Lady Chaos has given me permission to teach you a different language, if you'd like." Annabeth looked at me questioningly.

"Percy, I know a lot of languages. I got bored over the years. I doubt there's a language that I don't know or at least haven't heard of."

I smiled at her cockily. "_There's a language you don't know. You've never even heard it before. That's something I can guarantee."_ I smiled sweetly at her before I continued to write, drawing the swirls that made up the code.

"Wha..."

"I can't tell you what it's called, because that'd give away why I was reincarnated, and I'm not allowed to tell you that, remember? However, I _can_ teach it to you. That way, if for some reason you ever stumble across it or for some reason something happens and you need to come with me, then you'll understand it."

"What do you mean by that?" I looked at Travis, smiling at him.

"Well, like I said, I can't say. But if you want the chance for me to even _consider_ taking you with me, then you need to understand the language. I doubt I'll ever take any of you with me, but it's a good way to pass the time. I can teach it to you, like I said, but only if you wanna learn." Everyone, and I mean _everyone_ in the room nodded. Even the Stolls nodded. "Wait, seriously?! You all wanna learn it?"

Grover shrugged. "Yeah, dude. I can understand a little bit of the language because of Pan's essence being part of me, which means that he knows some of it. The fact that Pan didn't know the entire language though intrigues me. I'd love to learn the language."

I smiled. "Then that means Pan _did_ go there. Good. I'm happy; I'm sure he enjoyed the place..." I smiled at my journal wistfully before slamming it shut, recapping Riptide and placing said journal on the desk (with everyone practically on top of me I didn't want them seeing poor Burpy).

"Wait, why do you sound so wistful about it all? Where exactly _is_ this place?" I looked at Piper with a knowing look.

"It's a lot closer than you might think." I shrugged, allowing my carefree look to return. "But anyways, it's late, I'm tired, and I'd like to go to sleep. We can begin after breakfast tomorrow. I'd also like to spar. I haven't done that in a while." Annabeth nodded, smiling widely at me.

"I've been practicing hard while you were gone, Seaweed Brain. I honestly think I could beat you." I rose an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"You know, my uncle Jimmo did a lot more than just shelter me for five years..." I gave a crooked grin, trying not to laugh at some of the horrified and eager faces amongst the group. "Anyways, bye!" I removed my bag, gently placing it by my bed and removing my sweatshirt. I crawled into bed, then flung my shirt and shorts out onto the floor, laughing at Thalia's horrified shriek.

A few moments later, and it was just me and my siblings. "I'd say that went rather well, wouldn't you say so?" Burpy hopped onto the bed, curling up on the pillow next to my head. I could hear Estelle snort at my question while Danny nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! You did great, brother!" I gave one final laugh before I fell into a blissful sleep.

When I woke up, I absentmindedly put my everyday Slugterra attire on, smiling at Burpy. "You ready for a new day?" Burpy nodded enthusiastically, and I grabbed my AHS sweatshirt. After all, you'd think the surface to be hotter, but Slugterra was way hotter, what with it being so close to the Earth's core. I had gotten used to the boiling hot weather, and now the 100 degree weather seemed a little cold to me. I couldn't even imagine how cold it'd be in the winter.

I walked out of the cabin, Burpy placed comfortably in my bag as I jogged to the pavilion. I walked in, ignoring all the looks I recieved. Instead, I sat down, my boots making a small noise as they fell onto the concrete floor. I looked at the nearest nymph, asking for a plate of eggs, bacon, and hash browns. She nodded, handing me a goblet. I grinned as blueberry smoothie filled the cup up. Soon enough, the Poseidon table was filled with all of my friends and my siblings. Obviously, we never were much to care for the rules. Even after fifteen years, they still had that ridiculous cabin sits with cabin rule.

"Uh, what're you wearing, Perce?" Grover pointed at my pants with a questioning glance as he munched on some salad. And a spork.

"Oh, well this is typical attire from where I'm from. I guess I sorta just tossed them on this morning. Why ask?"

"Oh, well they're just a little strange, that's all. I mean, you've got some sort of plastic metal knee pads. I don't think I've ever seen that kind of material before. Even your boots seem pretty heavy duty. And honestly, bro, why're you wearing a sweatshirt and pants in this weather? It boiling!" Leo literally caught his hand on fire as if this would prove a point.

I rolled my eyes. "That's because this is a material that you haven't seen before. And I personally think it's freezing here! Where I'm from, it's never this cold!" I rubbed my arms, trying to get my point across.

"Uh huh.." Annabeth just looked at me like I was retarded. I gave her a deadpanned look.

"Oh, you're still a Prissy!" Clarisse slapped me heartily on the back, making the entire table laugh.

"Yeah, and you're still an obnoxious a-"

"Percy! Shut up, you Seaweed Brain!" I looked at Annabeth, only for my eyes to light up as my food was placed in front of me. I grabbed a piece of bacon, literally yeeting it across the pavilion and into the fire. It gave a soft sea green light to show it accepted my offering. I rubbed my hands enthusiastically, ignoring the gaping looks I got from my friends as I practically inhaled my first piece of bacon.

"Oh my gods. I haven't had this kind of food for months!" I smiled widely, literally mixing it all up on my plate and eating horribly fast.

"Uh, what kind of food _do_ you usually eat?" I looked at Frank and Hazel, trying not to laugh at their disgusted faces as I licked my plate.

"Well, they don't have regular animal meat, so I'm usually eating giant bug creatures." I gave an absentminded shrug of my shoulders, raising my hand and asking the nymph for Captain Crunch.

Everyone ate quietly after that, and I could feel multiple glances my way but I didn't care. After living off of Pronto's food for a while, this was like being able to eat as much nectar as I wanted to!

After wiping my mouth, I stood up, smiling as I grabbed a piece of bacon and walked away. "Meet me at my cabin, and we'll do an hour of languages so our stomachs can settle. Then we can go spar for a while, Hmm?" Once I was at my cabin, I quickly allowed Burpy to eat the bacon, watching the slug seem to melt in pure bliss. I laughed at him. "I know, surface food is _way_ better than Pronto's cooking, huh?" I could hear the door rattling, and I quickly hid Burpy (and his bacon) in my bag, placing it in the corner of my bed.

I smiled as Annabeth came in as I set out papers in clear slider sheets, as well as a few boxes of tissues and Expo markers. I also set the empty notebooks down, Annabeth frowning at me. "What do we need all this stuff for, Percy? I thought we were learning a language."

"Yeah, we are! I'm gonna have you write words down on that homemade whiteboard, and take notes in the notebooks. I'm gonna teach you the way my dad taught me, and I found it pretty easy to learn that way. That's saying something."

Annabeth looked down at the floor, a small frown marring her features. "Percy... what's your new family like?"

I frowned a little, then sighed as I sat on the wooden floor. "My dad, Will Shane? He died when I was ten. He got in an... accident... with an acquaintance of his, and he passed away. My mom, she was abusive. Treated me like crap when Dad wasn't around, so I left when I found out Dad wouldn't be coming home ever again. I ran to Uncle Jimmo's, and he taught me some different fighting techniques amongst other things." Annabeth and I were silent for a few minutes, and I spoke up again. "I know that I've never had very good luck, but the fact that I managed to be reincarnated, been able to practically keep everything from my previous life and gain so much more... I'm so grateful, Annabeth. I... I could imagine what life would be like if I hadn't died, and as amazing as it would be... I'm still helping people. I'm still doing something good. I still have a purpose, and... and I still get to be with the love of my life; that's you, Annabeth." I took a deep breath, staring at Riptide in pen form as it sat in my hands. "I've thought about you every single day. If I would've chosen to go to the Underworld, I might not know about anything going on. I'd be ignorant, and although ignorance can be blissful, it can also be painful without yourself even realizing it. I have _siblings_, Annabeth. Mortal siblings. And for some reason, my life-lives- feel so much more complete. I know I'm not perfect. I'm not anything great. The fact that the creator herself has allowed me a second chance at life, with all my experience, it makes me happy." I smiled at Riptide, my pen seeming to glow brighter with my emotions.

"Oh, Percy." Annabeth walked over to me, smiling as she came closer. "It seems like you missed me as much as I missed you." We crashed lips, my smile making Annabeth humm in amusement.

We broke apart as soon as the door handle jiggled, both of us blushing as the rest of our friends entered. Danny led the group, bouncing up and down with excitement as he dragged Jason into the room, smiling widely. "-and he's super cool! All those stories are totally true, right? Is it true that the first monster he defeated was Alecto? That's so cool! What was your first monster, Jason?"

"Oh, well, um..."

"Hey Danny!" I waved at my brother, smiling widely and gesturing him over to me. I pulled him close so his ear was almost touching my mouth. "How about you take Burpy to the pavilion and see if the nymphs will make a quick snack for him? Just say it's for a friend, then feed him once you get back, just in the bathroom, yeah?"

Danny smiled widely, nodding enthusiastically. "Okay! Does that mean I get to carry your backpack?!" Danny bounced excitedly up and down like a fan girl getting an autograph. When I nodded, he squealed as he swung my bag onto his back.

"Hey, be careful with that! I mean it!"

Danny nodded before taking off through the door so fast it was as though he hadn't even been there. I sighed in exasperation, my hand holding my face. I could hear a few chuckles as I met Estelle's eyes, and I glared at her when I saw her desperately holding her laugh in. She knew what- _Who- _was in that bag. That's why she was laughing so hard, what with the way her cheeks puffed up. "Oh, shut up, Estelle." Everyone started laughing openly at our sibling antics, and I eventually managed to get everyone sitting with a notebook and whiteboard. "Alright, let's get started! We're gonna learn the basics this morning: the alphabet, how to say 'my name is...', 'how are you', and even how to spell your names!" I smiled at them knowingly, and couldn't help but laugh as most of them (mainly the Stolls, Clarisse, Thalia, Nico, and Chris) sighed in agitation.

Danny had rushed in after I taught them the alphabet, and I watched as he raced into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. "I'll be back. You all stay here." I walked to the door, gently rapping my knuckles against the door. "Danny? It's Percy. Mind if I come in?" Danny popped his head out a crack in the door, glaring at everyone before yanking me inside. He quickly closed and locked the door, and I smiled as he gently opened the bag, reaching in and allowing Burpy to sit in the palm of his hand. He reached into his large pockets, pulling out a plastic bag full of what looked like...

"Pfft! You.. you asked the nymphs for blue food?" I laughed as Danny blushed, pulling out a small ham and cheese sandwich with blue bread for Burpy.

"Of course I did! Mom taught me that blue food is a luxury, and if you don't have blue food in your life-"

"Then you're missing out on a part of your life." I smiled at Danny as he gently fed Burpy the sandwich. "Anyways, I'm teaching the others about the alphabet. You gonna join?"

"Yeah, just let me finish up, okay? And if you're all done by the time I'm done, then you can maybe... teach me later at lunch or something?" I smiled and ruffled Danny's hair.

"Of course, buddy. Come on out with my bag when you're done, alright?"

"Okay!" Danny quickly put his back to the door so as to hide Burpy as I opened the door just enough for me to squish out and close the door behind me. I rose an eyebrow as everyone scrambled back to their seats, whether it be on the floor or a bed.

I placed a hand on my hip, a grin threatening to break out on my face. "What do you think you're doing? It's rude to listen to other people's conversations, ya know." At least a few of my friends had the decency to look sheepish. I looked at Estelle, said girl rolling her eyes. She had a look in her eyes that seemed to say 'I'll get answers when everyone leaves'.

"Anyways, let me check your alphabets and we'll go from there!"

It ended up taking them a good two hours just to get their names, alphabet, and a few common phrases. Listening to them try to pronounce the language was even worse than their writing. I felt ready to pass out from the horrendous work they'd all done. How did my dad manage to deal with me?

I sighed tiredly as we walked towards the arena, Danny holding my hand with my backpack firmly strapped on him. He'd grown attached to my stuff relatively fast, and him and Burpy were already great friends. Plus, I trust him. He knows what he's doing.

Danny talked to me about how this one time, him and the rest of the Blofis family went to a water park for a few days, and how my mom practically squealed when she saw a famous novelist there.

When we reached the arena, Danny asked if he could fight me, but I said maybe another time. He and Estelle went and sat down with Grover, Calypso and Juniper, while everyone else started arguing about who I'd fight first. "Alright, settle down everyone! I'm going to close my eyes. You all make a circle around me, and I'll randomly point. Whoever is there is who I'll fight. Seem fair?" Everyone nodded, and I closed my eyes. I could hear feet shuffling against the dirt, and eventually all noise stopped. "Hmm... how about... you!" I spun in a circle, pointing at a random spot to a little on my left.

"Oh, that's me! Yeah, me! Me!" I sighed exasperatedly when I saw Leo bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Uh, dude? Are you sure you wanna fight me?" I honestly didn't feel like fighting a hammer wielding fire elf...

"Hey! You said you'd choose fairly! I wanna fight you! I never got to do it when you were alive, bro!" Leo pouted at me, and I sighed, giving a small nod.

"Alright, I'll fight you first. The rest of you can figure out a system for me to fight you in, okay?" Everyone nodded and raced to the stands, all sitting in one row.

Leo grinned as he pulled not one, but _two_ hammers from his magical tool belt. "Ah, so you upgraded. Nice. What weapon do you want me to use? Any weapon, but it can't be a long range weapon since yours isn't. Fair?"

"Yeah!" Leo walked up to the wall of weapons, staring at them all intently. "Hmm... how about... this one!" Leo smiles triumphantly as he held up two duel wielding short swords. I smiled widely.

"Good choice, Leo. I rather enjoy this kind of weapon." I grasped the handles and walked to my side of the arena, a smirk dancing across my face. "Ready? Set... go!" Leo screamed, charging at me with an insane grin spread across his face. His whole body caught fire (hammers included) as he rushed me, and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Oh, Leo. You still haven't changed, have you?" I swept my leg downwards, tripping Leo as his own hammer fell on his face and knocked him unconscious. "So, Who's next?"

Clarisse and Chris both stood, smiling at one another. I shrugged, staring at the blades I still held. "Two on one? Alright." Clarisse's spear came flying towards me while Chris decided to do the same as Leo, charging straight at me. I smirked as I caught Maimer, launching it right back the way it came. Clarisse barely dodged it, her own spear cutting into her bicep. I got into a boxing stance as Chris came towards me, and I quickly did the same maneuver as before, sweeping Chris' feet from under him and quickly jabbing my elbow at his nose, effectively breaking it and knocking him out. Clarisse growled in annoyance at seeing her boyfriend go down so easily (were they married now? I couldn't remember).

"Stupid Prissy! You're younger than us, you should be weak!"

I absentmindedly twirled the blades, smiling. "Oh, I am. Physically, I don't think I'm as strong as my seventeen year old body was, but I've learned a lot. Trust me, I know more than I let on." I grinned as the Daughter of Ares let out a war cry as she charged at me, 'Lamer' electrified and ready to injure. "Ya know..." I commented as I jumped into the air before she could pierce me, "I never liked that spear of yours. However, I think I'll be gracious enough to spare it this time," I smiled as I slammed my strong boots into her head, efficiently knocking her into the floor and launching me higher. I grinned as she turned onto her back, only to see my boots mere inches from her stomach.

It was too late for her to react as I slammed down into her gut.

I gently stepped off, wincing as she was dragged to the stands by Grover and Juniper, the two of them gently giving the already injured demigods ambrosia and nectar. I waited patiently for someone else to come down, and watched as the Stolls took a glance at me, then one another before retreating to help Grover and Juniper. Now, it was just the Seven (minus Leo), as well as Thalia and Nico. Will was watching from the sidelines, occasionally running to get more medical supplies.

By now, a small crowd had gathered in the stands, and many of the Campers were yelling at my friends to just fight me already. Thalia sighed, but stood up with a large smile on her face. "It's on, Kelp Head."

"Alright. Let's do this. Pick your weapon, and then pick mine." Thalia seemed to analyze me before withdrawing her own throwing knives, smiling at me.

"Well, I haven't seen you use those beauties yet. Plus, I wouldn't mind practicing my throwing knives a little MORE!" She quickly flung one at me, and I barely managed to dodge before another was flung. I glared at the dagger before turning back to Thalia, my nose twitching in agitation at her triumphant smirk. I felt something wet drip down my face.

Her knife managed to scratch my cheek. I chuckled. "Oh, come on, Pinecone Face! I've been gone for fifteen years. You'd think some improvements would show!" I gave a raspberry her way, my thumbs in my ears as I made a humiliating face towards her. She growled at me, lightning dancing across her body.

"Percy..." She ran forwards, lighting making small burn marks on the arena floor. I laughed as she got closer, smirking as I jumped up, once again slamming my foot into her head and making her literally eat dirt.

"Ha! You're all falling for the same tricks!" I smirked as I began free falling towards my downed cousin. "You just never seem to- Gah!" I definitely wasn't expecting her to grab my leg and slam me into the floor.

"Haha! You THOUGHT!" She stood up, a triumphant smirk on her face. "Oh, Kelp Head. You haven't changed either." She smiled, the lightning around her making her look only slightly insane as she held an electrified dagger above my face. I yelped in surprise before bringing my foot up, knocking her dagger out of her hand with my boot. I flung my upper body upwards, my head nailing her in the nose as I hopped to my feet. "What the Hades, dude! That hurt-"

I didn't give her anymore room to talk as I brought the hilt of my swords to the sides of her head. I sighed, wiping the thin layer of sweat from my brows. I removed my sweatshirt, setting it down on the bench next to Annabeth. "It's finally starting to get to warmer temperatures! So, who's next?" Frank and Hazel shook their heads, Piper seeming to grimace at the downed Hunter before shaking her head as well. "Nico? Jason? Annabeth? Any of you?"

Annabeth sighed and seemed ready to get up before Jason stood up, giving a firm nod. "I'll do it." He gave me a crooked smile, his eyes squinted behind his glasses. "After all, I haven't fought my bro in over fifteen years." I smiled as he walked to the other side of the arena.

"So, what weapon?"

"Riptide. We're gonna have one of our classic sword fights but powers are off limits, just this once. I wanna test myself, and I'm sure you'd like to do the same." I nodded, smiling.

"Alrighty then. Let me set these down." I threw the short swords into the wooden plank that held the weapons, earning a few startled yelps from some of the campers.

Jason gave me a deadpanned look. "Uh, Perce? That's _not_ 'setting them down'. Just so you know."

"Oh, I know," I grinned as I drew Riptide, the two of us circling one another.

We slowly closed the gap, ignoring the campers screaming at us to just fight already. You shouldn't rush into battle, always analyze your opponent before you strike.

Jason made the first move. He lunged towards me, his sword mere inches from striking my arm. I parried the blow with relative ease, quickly moving Riptide to block his attacks. "You still fight like a Roman. Loosen up, Grace."

"Yeah? Well you still fight like a Graecus, Jackson!" He laughed at me, and I grinned.

"Oh, I don't know about that," I answered as I feinted to the left before using the flat of my sword to knock against Jason's knee, making his leg fall from under him. "I think I've learned more than just a few new moves." He glared at the tip of my sword that was pressed against his chest. "Dead," I declared before helping him to his feet. "You did good, though. Like I said before, you still fight the same, Jase. Try changing it up a bit, yeah? And maybe next time we can fight _with_ our powers." I smiled at him as we gave one another a fist bump.

I glanced at Annabeth, my eyebrows wiggling up and down. "No, Percy. I don't feel like fighting right now, and I want to analyze your new moves more before I get into a sparring match with you."

I pouted. "Oh, come on! Annabeth, we haven't sparred in over fifteen years! I wanna have a good sparring match!" She crossed her arms, ignoring me. "Fine! Be that way! You won't always be able to assess your opponent before a battle, you know. Say, Nico, wanna-"

"No."

I gave him a deadpanned look, him simply raising an eyebrow at me before turning his attention back to the empty arena. "Fine then. Anyone else? Please? Anyone?"

No response.

"Okay then. Let's head back to the cabin and work on the language, yeah?"

Those who were conscious groaned in annoyance while Danny ran up to me, a large smile adourning his face. "Wow, Percy! That was amazing! Can you show me how to do that stuff?" He held me sweatshirt up for me, which I happily took and pulled over my shirt.

"Yeah, of course, Danny." He grabbed my hand, trying to drag me back to the cabin only for him to be shoved out of the way as a now conscious Leo Valdez began inspecting my gloves.

"Oh man! I totally didn't notice these earlier! And would you mind taking your hoodie off? I wanna analyze the shirt you're wearing and-" He looked at my face, and immediately turned around, racing to Calypso to complain about how scary I was and how he never got to make anything cool anymore. I helped Danny up from the floor, only for the eight year old to quickly take off my backpack and practically shove his head inside of it to make sure Burpy was alright. He sighed in relief before mumbling something to the Infernous slug and gently zipping the bag back up.

We all walked back to the Poseidon Cabin, and I couldn't help but smile at how much fun I'd had in only two days.

**Time skip... so yeah...**

The month went by a lot quicker than I would've liked. I'd worn winter clothes practically the entire time, and my hoodie became a constant that I had. Some of the new campers that managed to talk to me said that they'd remember my hoodie and boots, as well as my strange navy blue hair as my defining features.

I tried not to frown as I finished packing the pictures into my duffle bag, only to stop myself when I held the most recent picture we'd taken in my hands. The entire camp wanted to take a picture, and so we did. All of the partially immortal campers (both Roman and Greek alike) were in the front, the hunters of Artemis standing to the side while Thalia gave me a noogie. Although I still didn't know too many people at the camp, I knew enough to know that not much had changed since I'd left. Burpy sat on my nightstand, tears filling his small eyes as he stared at Danny who was still ranting to him.

"-and I'll make sure to have Mom make tons of snacks for you, especially bacon since that's one of your favorites, and-"

I quickly hugged Danny, smiling as I ran my fingers through his hair. "Hey, don't worry buddy. We'll be back during the winter time for Christmas, okay? Something tells me that Burpy'd have my head if I left him behind in Slugterra." Burpy glared at me, and I smiled sheepishly as I allowed the slug and the boy to say goodbye. I walked over to Estelle, wrapping her in a hug. "Bye, Sis. I'll be back soon, okay?" She smiled at me, nodding.

"Okay, Perce. Just, make sure you call us, okay? I'm sure we'd all like to see you. Oh! And you still need to teach us more of the Slugterran Language!"

"Yeah!" Danny came running over to us, Burpy sitting on his shoulder. "If you don't call us, then I'll make Mom and Dad let me go find you myself so I can duel you and beat you!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Danny. Just keep up that hard work with your short swords and your longer sword, alright?" He nodded enthusiastically before returning to the corner, talking to Burpy as he loaded multiple sandwich bags of bacon into my orange backpack.

Within a few minutes, I was packed and ready to go. As Danny and Estelle walked me up the hill, I turned back to look at them one more time. "Now, remember you two: Secrets-"

"Should stay secrets," they said together.

"We know already." Estelle rolled her eyes as she shoved me forwards. "Now go already! Blackjack's waiting for you, and we all know how he gets."

I chuckled and hugged the two one last time before walking down the hill, smiling and waving at the midnight black Pegasus that seemed to be glaring holes through my head. _"Boss! What took you so long! I've been waiting for like, five minutes!"_

"Oh, you're fine, Blackjack. Now, let's go, shall we?" Blackjack took off into the sky, and I smiled as we soared towards Manhattan. Burpy gently poked his head out the top of my bag so he could see better but was ready to duck in case Blackjack took a glance at me.

Man, when Blackjack figured out I was at camp, he literally ran over a few of the campers I was talking to in the arena just so he could blab on and on about the cruelty of the Camp, how they never gave him donuts and only the partial immortals and my siblings would visit him. He was so needy.

We descended to the top of my apartment building, and I smiled before waving goodbye to Blackjack (of course after I bought him a churro from a small stand around the corner). I walked into my apartment building, and made my way to the door. I knocked, and my mom opened the door wide, smiling as she pulled me inside. "Oh, Percy! You've already grown! My, my! How was Camp? I see that you got a new necklace, Hmm?" I nodded as I fingered the leather necklace that I'd turned into a bracelet. It seemed to fit better on my left hand than it did on my neck. Not sure why, but I liked it there. Grover and Juniper had worked really hard to recreate all the beads I'd had when I was at camp, and the newest one was a navy blue bead with a golden sword painted on it. Riptide, representing the return of a stolen soul.

I spent the next day or two with my mom and Paul, then made my way back to the sewers. My mom insisted that I take the duffle bag with me, even if they were clothes that I probably wouldn't wear too often.

Burpy and I smiled as we descended back into Slugterra, Lucky waiting patiently for us to finally go to the Shane Gang Hideout.

When we reached our home, I gave a small snort. Pronto was sitting on his donkey mecha, pointing proudly at a hideous banner that read "Eli home welcome!" in English. I'd been trying to teach them some English before I left, so the fact that they managed to do this much made me smile.

"Good job you guys. I'd say it's a job well done, but it's more like a done well job. You mixed up the first and last word." I smirked as Pronto argued with Trixie and Kord over what word went where before they all turned to me, large smiles adourning their faces. I placed Lucky in the garage, laughing as Kord raced over to 'give her upgrades'. Trixie rolled her eyes, laughing as we all headed inside.

"So, anything crazy happen while I was gone?"

"Oh. Not really. Blakk was up to obnoxious business like usual, but nothing we couldn't handle." Trixie shrugged absentmindedly as she stared at my bag. "So, what's that?"

"Oh, it's a duffle bag. I've just got a few surface clothes in here as well as some cookies my mom made-"

"Oh! Pronto loves cookies!" Pronto raced over to my bag, only for me to slap him away.

"No." I glared at him, my eyes flashing dangerously. He gave a small wimper before I continued on to the main room, plopping down on the couch. "Here, if you'd like to see some of the surface stuff then you can. But _don't _touch anything. If I hand it to you, then you can touch it." I glared pointedly at Pronto before opening the duffle bag, removing a few T-shirts, shorts, a few pairs of flip flops, and my AHS hoodie. It was a little torn up now, but it was still probably one of my favorite hoodies.

"Uh... is this shirt even in English? I can't read it." Trixie stared at my Camp Half-Blood shirt intently.

"Oh! That's the Camp's shirt. It's in Greek, so it wouldn't surprise me if you couldn't read it."

Kord stared at the plastic box holding my blue food. "I take it that's your mom's legendary cooking?"

"Yup!" I smiled as I opened the box, revealing blue cookies, fudge, candies, and other yummy sweet treats. "These are mostly made by my mom, but some of the candies were bought from this candy shop she used to work at."

Pronto's eyes lit up as he slowly reached for the box. My nose twitched, and I could feel Burpy jump off my shoulder. The Infernous landed on Pronto's hand, quickly lighting him on fire. "Ah! Pronto is burning! Pronto's burning!"

"Don't touch my food! _Especially_ my blue food!"

Burpy and I gave eachother a high five, smirking as Pronto raced to the kitchen sink to extinguish his burning limb.

We all laughed together, and a smile graced my face when an IM popped up of my mom in the kitchen, Paul sitting on the couch watching football in the background. I introduced my mom to my Slugterran friends, and sat comfortably in the chair as my mom discussed different cooking techniques with Pronto while Paul and Kord discussed sports. Trixie grinned at me while rolling her eyes. Although a lot had already happened, although I'd already died once, I couldn't be happier with the life (lives) that I had now.

Everything was perfect.

**A/N: I'm going to stop here for some foreshadowing... and because I've had this story saved for a while now and I wanted to post this so I could say I've been working diligently on some of my fan fictions... I promise I actually have multiple documents for new and old stories! Don't worry, I plan on updating and posting some stuff (hopefully) within the week. This is just a taste of what is soon to come! Anyways, I really hope you all enjoy this story so far! I apologize if there are any mistakes in here. I tried to reread most of it, but I don't have a beta reader and I usually post as soon as I'm done with the chapter/story. As always, constructive criticism is always welcome and please RR!**

**Love,**

**sKaEtrgrL**


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